The first book of Calamity Leek

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Title:

The first book of Calamity Leek

Author:

Lichtarowicz, Paula author.

ISBN:

9781250087935

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

307 pages ; 21 cm

Subject Term:

Sisters -- Fiction.

Self-realization in women -- Fiction.

Self-actualization (Psychology) in women -- Fiction.

Self-realization -- Fiction.

Families -- Fiction.

Curiosity -- Fiction.

Fate and fatalism -- Fiction.

Authorship -- Fiction.

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Calamity Leek and her sixteen sisters spend their days tending white roses and memorizing the lessons in Aunty's Appendix, a multi-volume compendium of show tunes, beauty regimens, and twisted creation myths. Calamity knows the Appendix front to back, and she is Aunty's favorite, destined for particular greatness. But when her restless sister Truly Polperro gets too curious about life beyond their Wall of Safekeeping, she cracks Calamity's world wide open. Calamity needs a new book. And she will have to write it herself. With formidable imagination and brilliant strangeness, The First Book of Calamity Leek draws on fairytales and doublespeak to tell a story both classic and keenly modern.

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION LIC	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	FICTION LIC	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"WONDERFULLY STRANGE." --Mark Haddon

"A MASH-UP OF MARGARET ATWOOD AND ROALD DAHL." --Lady Magazine

A beguiling, irresistibly immersive debut novel about sixteen sisters in a walled garden, and what happens to their carefully constructed world when one girl starts asking questions about life outside.

Fourteen-year-old Calamity Leek and her sisters spend their days tending white roses and memorizing the lessons in Aunty's Appendix, a multi-volume compendium of show tunes, beauty regimens, and twisted creation myths. Calamity knows the Appendix front to back, and she is Aunty's favorite, destined for particular greatness. But when her restless sister Truly Polperro gets too curious about life beyond their Wall of Safekeeping, she cracks Calamity's world wide open. Calamity needs a new book. And she will have to write it herself.

With formidable imagination and brilliant strangeness, Paula Lichtarowicz's The First Book of Calamity Leek draws on fairytales and doublespeak to tell a story both classic and keenly modern. Calamity, fearless and wrenching, leads us to question the stories we ourselves live by.

Author Notes

Paula Lichtarowicz was born in Cheshire and studied English literature at Durham University and psychology at the University of London. When not writing, she makes television documentaries. She lives in Yorkshire. The First Book of Calamity Leek is her debut.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

It begins with the seeming death of a girl called Truly, who may actually still be alive. The reader doesn't know, for the truth is opaque in this enigmatic novel. Its narrator is 14-year-old Calamity; from her, readers gradually begin to learn a few things about her environment. She and 15 other girls live in a walled garden, shut off from the Outside. Brought to their sanctuary by a seeming demigoddess called Mother, they are being prepared to go to war against the Demonmales who live outside the wall, provided, that is, the girls can elude the dangerous Injuns who surround their enclosure. Called the Goddess Daughter's Army, they are supervised by Aunty, a badly disfigured former actress. The girls' world is stable until one of their number manages to get Outside, and then nothing in the Garden remains the same. First published in the UK, this richly imagined novel tests readers' patience with its obscure beginnings but rewards them with the idiosyncratic voice and character of Calamity. Fans of the offbeat will dote on this sui generis story.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2016 Booklist

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

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